Phenology in adult and larval Lepidoptera from structured and unstructured surveys across eastern North America

Frontiers of Biogeography

article

Leslie Ries¹  Robert P. Guralnick²  Allen H. Hurlbert³  Grace J. Di Cecco³  Michael W. Belitz²  Robert J. Cooper⁵  Elise A. Larsen¹  William B. Lewis¹ 

[1] Department of Biology, Georgetown University;Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida;Department of Biology, University of North Carolina;Environment, Ecology and Energy Program, University of North Carolina;Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia

关键词: butterflies;    caterpillars;    citizen science;    climate change;    Lepidoptera;    phenology;    unstructured data;   

DOI  :  10.21425/F5FBG56346

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: International Biogeography Society

【 摘 要 】

Caterpillars (larval Lepidoptera) are an essential link in trophic networks of forest ecosystems, as they serve as herbivores of vegetation and a food source for many organisms. Phenological mismatches between caterpillars, host plants, or predators may have negative effects across multiple trophic levels. Seasonal timing of caterpillar emergence and peak occurrence may be impacted by climate change, however, studying caterpillar phenology at broad spatial scales is challenging due to lack of data availability. Here, we examine two sources of caterpillar observations, opportunistic records from iNaturalist and structured surveys of forest caterpillars, and compare whether phenology patterns in these datasets are consistent across larval datasets and with more numerous records of adult butterflies. Despite substantial taxonomic differences between these three datasets, we found concurrence in patterns of early and late years in spring onset between datasets. However, the datasets do differ in how well they capture phenological responses to warmer spring temperatures. More data-rich iNaturalist caterpillar and adult butterfly records may provide a reasonable proxy of interannual deviations in forest caterpillars, however, expansions in structured survey efforts are needed to capture changing patterns in other ecologically important measures such as abundance and biomass.

【 授权许可】

CC BY